This invention is related to wheeled-vehicles which move over waterless surfaces, including tracks, roads, etc. More particularly, this invention relates to a means, i.e., an electromagnetic device, for reducing the energy necessary to move a wheeled-vehicle, as well as suspending and transferring the wheeled-vehicle's weight from its axles to the electromagnetic device.
In the operation of all vehicles, there is a need to reduce the wear and tear on them, as well as the cost of their operation. For example, in the operation of trucks (particularly trailer trucks) and automobiles, there are substantial costs in their maintenance and upkeep, as well as yearly road repairs. This is also true for railroad cars and locomotives where there are always repair, maintenance and upkeep costs of the cars and locomotives, as well as the costs for the upkeep of the tracks, track beds and rails.
Also, overall, there is a need to reduce, or at least lessen, the energy costs for operation of the vehicles. The cost for running the vehicles keeps on rising with cost of energy, i.e., fuel, coal and the like. In this respect, there is a need to reduce the amount of energy necessary for the operation of the vehicles, and thus its cost.
There have not been any attempts of note to reduce the cost of operating vehicles or for reducing the cost of maintaining the roadways, railroad tracks, and the like.
There have, however, been magnet means used in the operation of vehicles, For example, electromagnetic means, i.e., devices have been utilized to attract and repel metal surfaces of all kinds. These electromagnetic devices have been used to attract the wheels of a vehicle to the tracks over which the vehicle may be driven or propelled. In fact, such magnetic devices have been used on railway cars which are driven over and along an inclined track. In such case, the electromagnetic devices are strong enough to adhere the vehicle wheels to the surface of the tracks over which the vehicle is driven. The use of such electromagnets in this manner is quite expensive and not practical. The electromagnets are not able to be used to reduce the amount of energy necessary to move or drive a wheeled-vehicle and certainly the electromagnets have not been used to suspend or transfer the weight of the vehicle while moving over a surface and reduce the wear and tear, and eventually the life of a wheeled-vehicle.
Electromagnets have also been used in the operation of wheelless vehicles, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,791,309 and 3,951,074. In these cases, however, a special track or railroad had to be provided to accommodate the wheelless vehicles. The cost of such tracks and railway beds would be prohibitive in our present railway operation and such wheelless railway cars could not be adapted to our present track system.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means for both transferring and suspending the weight of a wheeled-vehicle, as well as for moving it over a surface with a minimum of energy necessary for operation of the wheeled-vehicle.
And, overall, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means, i.e., an electromagnetic device, to reduce the operation and maintenance cost of vehicles, as well as reducing the energy power necessary for their operation because the vehicle is generating electric power during its operation.